IS THE EURO NOW SAFE?
Q. Does this plan bring greece’s debt burden down by enough?
A. Not really. Even if it manages to deliver the promised 12 per cent cut to Greece’s debt pile, which is 140 per cent of GDP, many commentators do not regard this as sustainable, and the programme is subject to Greece getting its spending under control from now on.
Q. What does Greece have to do?
A. It has to meet its deficit targets in order to continue to qualify for its latest rescue funds. Given its failure to meet previous targets, that looks unlikely. Moreover, the country is hamstrung by being locked in a deep recession that means even if it can cut its spending, it will be hard to boost revenues.
Q. What about the other indebted countries?
A. Capital Economics’ Jonathan Loynes says “the plan is aimed very specifically at Greece”, with little to convince markets that Europe could handle similar problems in Spain or Italy. That means panic and contagion could well continue.